The Sunu are different from humans in many ways (although they are too similar to humans according to the definition of aliens - to this day, many people on Earth still believe that they are descendants of the Atlanteans who immigrated to the outer space before the extinction of the dinosaurs). They have more sensitive hearing and smell than humans, but their vision is more degraded...
Lin Xi also knew a lot of little-known facts about the Sunu people, but he did not intend to continue discussing this topic with Shizuo Ando. After all, he was not a Sunu fan like Ando.
"Oh, of course, I understand. After all, Liz is in a special period now."
He interrupted Ando.
But he regretted it the next second, because Ando sat there with his hands and feet tied, and a thin layer of cold sweat could be seen on his forehead. He looked very stiff, and Lin Xi could see that Ando Shizuo was born to be the kind of person who would never ask for help from others.
And he always has a soft heart towards such people. Especially when thinking about the scene yesterday when Ando suddenly spoke up to help him out, Lin Xi suddenly understood. Obviously, the idea of finding someone else to take care of Xingdie instead of him has probably been lingering in Ando's mind for a long time.
Lin Xi, who is also a researcher, does seem to be the most suitable candidate.
"That doesn't bother me."
Lin Xi scratched the back of his head and whispered.
Although he doesn't like bugs, but...
In Bryce's medical room, he saw Liz's condition with his own eyes, and naturally knew that Ando had no choice but to make this choice.
"… But there might be some trouble with Captain Taran," Lin Xi shrugged at Ando, "You know, he has always disliked me. I don't think he would agree to let me take care of Xingdie."
Ando scratched the back of his hand nervously: "It's okay, we don't have to tell him just now, this is not a formal handover - once Liz's condition improves, I will bring the egg case back to my laboratory as quickly as possible."
Perhaps even Ando himself did not notice that, even when he tried hard to persuade Lin Xi to take care of the star butterfly's egg case on his behalf, he still had an unconcealable desire to monopolize the egg case, and he still subconsciously tried to retain his control over the star butterfly's egg case.
Lin Xi frowned.
"If you put it that way..."
Lin Xi could certainly sense the risks inherent in this behavior—most of them were Ando's. To be honest, this method had no benefits other than being able to avoid trouble from Taran.
However, just as he was about to continue speaking, he looked up and saw Ando's face, a tired and haggard face—Ando was not as calm as he had appeared in the medical room yesterday, nor did he ignore Liz's strangeness. He just concealed all his pain and worry very well.
"Okay, I'll take good care of the eggs, even though I don't have any experience in this area."
Lin Xi changed his words.
After getting Lin Xi's promise, Ando soon came to Lin Xi's room with the star butterfly's egg case.
At that time, Lin Xi hadn't even woken up yet.
Lin Xi rubbed his eyes and opened the cabin door to let Shizuo Ando enter his room.
The man held the star butterfly's egg case tightly in his hands, as if it were some rare treasure.
And that thing, just like what Lin Xi had seen before, looked like a huge bean pod, quietly suspended in a special cultivation device (that device looked quite advanced, Lin Xi bet that it was a machine prepared by Ando at his own expense.
"I thought... I just needed to put it over at the plant lab."
After seeing Shizuo Ando place the fixator on his bedside table and place the egg sheath connected to the life-support device directly there, Lin Xi finally woke up from the confusion of just waking up.
He stared at Ando Shizuo in astonishment and asked.
When agreeing to Ando's request, Lin Xike had no idea that the so-called "taking care" of the star butterfly egg case actually meant putting this thing directly in his own room.
Judging from the installation position chosen by Shizuo Ando, the matter is probably not just about letting the insect eggs stay in his cabin.
"No - how can you do that -"
Ando turned around and looked at Lin Xi in shock, as if Lin Xi had just said something incredible.
"This egg case is still in its dormant period, which means that its activity is still very weak. What we need to do is to activate it as much as possible, otherwise it may die directly in such a long dormancy. This is how the Sunu Star Butterfly became extinct! In order to avoid this situation, we need to replace the nutrient solution for it, adjust the temperature, and provide some sound and light stimulation every once in a while. It should not be too strong, but it must be there to help it sense the situation in the outside world... In short, it needs careful and public care. If you just leave it in your laboratory and ignore it, it will probably die soon-" Shizuo Ando opened his eyes wide and said to Lin Mao seriously.
After a long while, he noticed Lin Xi's expression, and then he seemed to realize something belatedly.
Ando coughed twice, then added unnaturally: "Well, although it seems a bit complicated, you will find that once you are familiar with its habits, it is not troublesome to take care of it. I designed a small monitoring system that will tell you what to do. Of course, it may require you to invest more energy than plants... But I can assure you that you will feel the fun. The Sunu Star Butterfly is indeed a very charming creature, even if it has not yet hatched."
"Is it too late for me to regret now?"
Lin Xi smiled wryly, looking at Ando who was becoming more and more uneasy, and asked quietly.
…
Of course, the so-called "regret" is just a joke.
Lin Xi had many shortcomings, but he was definitely not the kind of person who would go back on his word—the star butterfly's egg case eventually remained next to his bedside table.
And as Ando said, once you get used to it (which means not thinking about its essence being a pile of unhatched insect eggs), it doesn't look that disgusting.
After seeing off the reluctant Ando Shizuo, Lin Xi sat in front of the egg case and stared at it for a long time, although he himself didn't know why he did that.
The life support device was running quietly and silently, and the egg sheaths were floating in the light blue culture medium like jellyfish that were born in the deep sea long ago, before humans were born.
Wait, jellyfish
Lin Xi's eyes fixed, and it was only at this moment that he noticed that the egg sheath was not completely unchanged compared to when he first saw it.
Below the swollen translucent body, many very thin transparent tentacles have grown, each of which looks only as thick as a hair, but very long. At this moment, they are gently swaying back and forth, which really makes people think of jellyfish.
But didn't Ando say that this thing is still dormant? So what are these tentacles used for
A hint of doubt flashed through Lin Xi's mind.
But... since Ando hadn't specifically mentioned these tentacles to him, they were probably some unique features of the star butterfly egg case.
Lin Xi quickly put that confusion behind her.
He still had a lot to do, like dealing with Bryce's nagging, playing cards and having fun with the guys on the expedition, and taking care of the plants in his greenhouse on the spacecraft—
The last item should have been a relatively hassle-free thing.
Lin Xi has an amazing talent when it comes to treating plants. Simply put, he has "green fingers", and this talent is as useful as ever when it comes to the special plants on the planet Sunu.
But now, Lin Xi's talent has encountered unprecedented difficulties.
Lin Xi didn't know if it was because of the spacecraft's forced landing or something else, but the plants in his laboratory and greenhouse, which had always been lush and healthy, were suddenly infested with insect pests.
Considering the cleanliness of the spacecraft's greenhouse, this could almost be described as an Arabian Nights accident.
But it just happened without any warning.
Later, Lin Xi discovered that the roots of several soil-grown plants that could not be grown in antibacterial culture medium actually carried very tiny insect eggs. After hatching, they showed amazing activity and tolerance to various insecticides.
Lin Xi swore many times that he would kill the idiot graduate students who were in charge of the inspection when he returned to Earth. But no matter how angry Lin Xi was, the little bugs still stubbornly survived round after round of routine disinfection and pest control, and then, this group of tiny devils spread inside the closed, warm greenhouse without any competitors.
"I really can't understand, the vitality of these bugs is almost greater than that of tardigrades!?"
Lin Xi complained to Bryce and Alyssa more than once.
He had never encountered such a situation before. Many plants were weakened by the gnawing of insects.
The only thing that Lin Xi could be thankful for was that Taran had become quite weak due to severe headaches. Just being busy with all the important matters at work had exhausted him. In the short term, he did not have the spare time to cause trouble for Lin Xi.
While trying to save the mess in the plant laboratory and greenhouse, Lin Xi couldn't help but sigh at Shizuo Ando's good luck: the insect pest appeared exactly the day after the star butterfly egg case took up residence next to his bedside table. If Lin Xi had discovered this one day earlier, he would probably have rejected Professor Ando's request without hesitation.
Although Lin Xi also admitted that taking care of the star butterfly's egg sheath was not as tedious and troublesome as he had imagined.
It can even be said that after returning to the cabin after a busy day, looking at the egg sheaths floating leisurely inside the life support system, he actually had a vague sense of relaxation.
The tentacles that grew out of the egg case became more and more numerous and thicker. They were no longer delicate and transparent, but a white color close to the egg case itself. Even without looking at the series of data fed back by the system, just observing the egg case through the transparent glass with the naked eye, it was clear that this little guy was quite full of vitality.